Hummingbird Feeders

Re: Hummingbird Feeders

Bella Dea wrote:

I finally got a hummingbird feeder and I am totally geeked about it.

How long will it take before the hummers find it?

Will it attract a lot of wasps/bees? I am allergic to them both and really don't want to have to dodge a swarm all the time.

I bought the concentrated nectar from the store. Do I need to change it out in a few days if no hummers find it?

I am so excited to see some birds humming in front of my kitchen window.

I suggest you toss the "nectar" and make sugar water, you need to change it every 10 days/2 weeks (if it lasts that long) it might take weeks for the hummers to find it and always put it back in about the same place, never had a problem with wasps/bees/hornets but ANTS are hell. my hummer feeders have a water bowl/dish on top to keep the ants out, we started out feeders 4 years ago and have have hummer nests with babies for the past 3 years. They have just come back here in the past 2 weeks so hopefully we will see a new nest and babies soon. there are many plants that attract hummers.
good luck.

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yeah..t hat store bought 'nectar' has dyes that are not good for those little birds Sad

1 cup of water to 1/3 cup of sugar.

stir like crazy

put that in there

those birds will go nuts

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If yoalong the coast, you should have your feeders out now. The hummers will find it soon enough. Dys sugar -water mix should be at about a 3:1 or 4:1 mix. #water to 1 sugar. I never fill my feeders up till I see them being used in the spring, then we change the sugar water every few days so it doesnt get funky.

We have some friends who live in Port Clyde and theyve had hummers for about a month now. They are potters and their studio has a second floor veranda where they hang feeders and have window boxes with lots of wave petunias . They are surrounded by hummers all season . The little guys will fly just a few feet from people and arent bothered by us, although the hummers sometimes get very prtective of their veranda and weve been told that a few summer afternoon set-down sessions get cut short by kamikaze hummers.

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Sweet. I was just going to ask a few of these questions. I want to get a feeder and knew to use sugar water but wondered how often to change it.

I didn't know about the ant solution so I'll make sure to look for such a feeder.

Thanks.

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If you boil the water and then add the sugar, you start with a sterile mix and have to do much less stirring.

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Noddy24 wrote:

If you boil the water and then add the sugar, you start with a sterile mix and have to do much less stirring.

never use any kind of soap to clean the feeder, you can use bleach (soak for an hour in a 1 to 4 mix bleach/water, rinse well)

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since it is just sugar, you should not need any soap.

hot water dissolves sugar, and most anything else left behind by animals .

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Just remember that the sugar feeders are like potato chips for hummingbirds. Very addicting, but no nutrition. It's also important to clean them on a regular basis so they don't get any fungus or mold that can harm the birds.

Plant some of these in your garden for good hummingbird nutrition. They will all grow in Michigan.

#1: Trumpet Creeper, Campsis radicans

#2: Beebalm or Oswego Tea, Monarda didyma

#3: Trumpet Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens

#4: Cardinal Flower, Lobelia cardinalis

#5: Spotted Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis

#6: Red Columbine, Aquilegia canadense

#7: Canada Lily, Lilium canadense

#8: Indian Pink, Spigelia marilandica

#9: Red Buckeye, Aesculus pavia

#10: Mountain Rosebay or Catawba Rhododendron, Rhododendron catawbiense

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Re: Hummingbird Feeders

Bella Dea wrote:

Will it attract a lot of wasps/bees? I am allergic to them both and really don't want to have to dodge a swarm all the time.

Only Yellow Jacket wasps are attracted to the feeders in my area. Bees want pollen and shouldn't bother you unless you kneel on them or swat at them aggressively. If you see a wasp it is best to stand still until it moves on. They see and attack movement. If you stand still they will not notice you.

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Re: Hummingbird Feeders

Green Witch wrote:

Bella Dea wrote:

Will it attract a lot of wasps/bees? I am allergic to them both and really don't want to have to dodge a swarm all the time.

Only Yellow Jacket wasps are attracted to the feeders in my area. Bees want pollen and shouldn't bother you unless you kneel on them or swat at them aggressively. If you see a wasp it is best to stand still until it moves on. They see and attack movement. If you stand still they will not notice you.

Ohhhh, are you preachin' to the choir sister!

I just got stung by a wasp about a week ago.

It got into my pants while I was peeing (no kidding). I was in the apartment getting stuff together to take to the house and had to go. So I went, pulled up my pants, felt a searing pain on the back of my leg and lo and behold, a wasp fell out.

It hurt like a sonofabitch and I broke out in hives on my feet from it, not to mention the HUGE welt on the back of my leg. It was great.

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Green Witch wrote:

Just remember that the sugar feeders are like potato chips for hummingbirds. Very addicting, but no nutrition. It's also important to clean them on a regular basis so they don't get any fungus or mold that can harm the birds.

Plant some of these in your garden for good hummingbird nutrition. They will all grow in Michigan.

#1: Trumpet Creeper, Campsis radicans

#2: Beebalm or Oswego Tea, Monarda didyma

#3: Trumpet Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens

#4: Cardinal Flower, Lobelia cardinalis

#5: Spotted Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis

#6: Red Columbine, Aquilegia canadense

#7: Canada Lily, Lilium canadense

#8: Indian Pink, Spigelia marilandica

#9: Red Buckeye, Aesculus pavia

#10: Mountain Rosebay or Catawba Rhododendron, Rhododendron catawbiense

Really?

I had no idea. Hm, maybe the feeder isn't such a great idea.

I have dogs and I don't know how well the flowers will fare. On top of that, I have a black thumb....nothing grows for me!

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Hang the feeder. You can still feed the hummers.

From what I understand... they need the sugar buzz to run after the protein (bugs). It's not like potato chips at all.

If there aren't any flowers and things that they like, it just might be harder to attract them.

Give it a shot, it's worth it!

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I'm not sure I've ever seen a dog defeat a Lonicera or a Campsis..

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ossobuco wrote:

I'm not sure I've ever seen a dog defeat a Lonicera or a Campsis..

Correct. You can't kill them Bella. The trumpet vine needs a lot of space to grow and a strong support like a solid fence or pergola.

Caribou, I'm going to see if I can find an Audubon article I read not too far back and see if I remembered it correctly.

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"Hummingbirds depend on the sugar-rich nectar for up to 90 percent of their diet; the rest is made up of insects and pollen that provide essential protein."

From this Audubon page.
There's other helpful bits on there as well.

Here's another helpful site.

Best-1 is a great feeder.
Any feeder with a perch is great because they will sit and stay a little longer
And don't forget the ant trap...

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Well, me, I have this japanese ceramic hummingbird feeder (yes, salvation army) that I may yet rig up. The feeder is the easy part. How not to have it break in the wind is next. Oh, and sugar ants... though so far here, so good. Next is finding wood to attach the hanger to. So far I'm going the plant route.

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Caribou, that shot of the 5 hummers eating in harmony with one on an approach , has got to be done with stuffed hummers. These little guys are so territorial that they will fight each other around a feeder until eah is done feeding . Ive seen a male and a female at the same feeder, but never a whole bunch without a huge fistfight ensuing.

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Yeah, farmerman, I've never seen a gathering like that either...

Somewhere though, on the internet I've seen places that have that kind of swarm. It must be amazing. After a quick search, I could only come up with this.
You need to scroll close to the bottom of the page...

I'll have to look for those other photos. They were cool.

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This isn't it, but it's still pretty freaky...

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